July 4, 2019

"I don’t think we get anything out of it," said Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser about the "Salute to America" July 4th celebration.

She's "an American who loves celebrating the Fourth of July as a nonpolitical event," and has "some concerns about a president not celebrating the military but glorifying military might. That scares me the most." (Politico.)

I guess we "celebrate the military" without "glorifying military might" on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, where the stress is on the courage and sacrifices of individual human beings. The 4th of July does offer an occasion to express enthusiasm, excitement, and optimism about fighting wars. The fireworks are the "bombs bursting in air" of the National Anthem. Now, the 4th marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, so the ideas of freedom and self-government are the most accurate focus. But the Declaration started a war, and that worked out well, and we're glad we did it — or so we say on the 4th. So what's so bad about "glorifying military might"?

Trump opponents are doing pretty well not falling into the trap of disparaging the military. Bowser gets a little close to the trap, saying she finds the glorification of the military scary (presumably because it might lead us into using the military more than we should). But she's pretty circumspect. She sounds a little wary of all the nonresidents pouring into her city, but she's careful to say, "Our stance is to support the activities of the federal government for July Fourth as we have always done." The city of Washington can't get away with saying it would prefer to exclude the rest of Americans, as if we are outsiders to our capital.

84 comments:

tim maguire said...

I'm trying and failing to imagine a justification for the fauxtroversy over the tanks and none of the outrage merchants are explaining it. They just expect me to understand what has them so upset.

They are scrapping the bottom of the outrage barrel.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The idea that leftwing liars get to set the narrative with "It's not a celebration" it's "glorification" deserves yet another... oh do fuck the Fuck OFF.

Ralph L said...

“I don’t think we get anything out of it,”

That's what's important to the DC government.

Shouting Thomas said...

On the other hand, D.C. is all in on a month long celebration of guys butt fucking one another.

I guess D.C. gets something out of that.

gilbar said...

The mayor said
The 4th is all about
bbq and tofu

To dems That's ALL the 4th is about
bbq and tofu
Not the flag not the country
No borders! No wall! No USA AT ALL !!

rehajm said...

Trucks are cool. Tanks are cool. They are fun to watch in a parade.

Expat(ish) said...

We re going to a local marina for a fund raising all you can eat hot dog cookout at 2pm. The to the beach at 8pm to see the fireworks from the pier. The only tanks we will see are tank tops.

FL is not enough, can’t imagine a big crowd in DC.

I already dropped my annual emails to my Canadian friend forgiving them for burning the White House.

-XC

Ralph L said...

From another Politico article:
"The president has been wanting to put on a Fourth of July event since July 2017 when he visited France for a Bastille Day parade and was struck by the display of the French procession that included over 60 airplanes, more than 20 helicopters, and horses and soldiers."

Guess France is a military dictatorship again.

gspencer said...

The 4th is the bestest American day of celebration, followed by Thanksgiving. No wonder the left hates both. One celebrates the rejection of the then NWO/elites; the other acknowledges our dependence on the Almighty to Whom we give thanks.

rehajm said...

She sounds a little wary of all the nonresidents pouring into her city

What’s fear of Congress called?

chuck said...

When I was a kid I loved the veterans firing a salute. With guns, imagine that. Too bad there were no tanks available.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Trump sure is good at taking a strong stand on issues that cause the anti-American tendencies of the Progressive Left to surface.

He connects emotionally with people who love America, and I LOVE that about him.

And you can bet there are many many millions of people just like me. We haven’t gone anywhere, we were just ignored for decades.

Rico said...

I'm against this for many of the same reasons the opponents are against it, but also because there's so much focus on the presidency and Independence Day should be about the country, not one person. I'd like a lot less emphasis on the president, thank you very much.

I'm a Republican, but not a huge supporter of the president. I think some of the support/opposition to this is situational and if the shoe were on the other foot...

Happy Independence Day!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How will the D-hack liars and hiveminders who exist in a cult-like state of butt-hurt over Hillary Clinton's loss handle the fact that Trump was inspired by a celebration he witnessed in France?

narciso said...

History is doubleunplusgood:
https://mobile.twitter.com/Jali_Cat/status/1146491203531227136

Beasts of England said...

Stars and Stripes Forever, baby!! 🇺🇸

Big Mike said...

Trump opponents are doing pretty well not falling into the trap of disparaging the military.

@Althouse, that’s your opinion. There are other opinions about the Democrat response to Trump. I also want to add that, as usual, you are gullible, interpreting Bowser’s remarks as sounding “a little wary of all the nonresidents pouring into her city.” PBS has been running “A Capital Fourth” for decades now, and I came into the city from the suburbs to see the fireworks display fifty years ago already. I did that until the wife and I had little kids, after which we watched the local displays and the PBS show.

narciso said...

When the splc/cair mob came to town, Muriel didn't mind much did she,

chuck said...

> Independence Day should be about the country, not one person.

And it is the Left who have made it so this year. It is amazing to me how easily they fell into the trap of making the Fourth a celebration of Trump, exposing their own distaste for the country in doing so. And all because of a couple of tanks of no consequence in themselves.

EdwdLny said...

Blah, blah, blah, blah....I hate Trump. Right, got it. The reality is that you hate America and abhor having to associate with all of us deplorables. You and all of the rest of the left hate that you can't just push us aside and do what you want. Too bad. If Trump and we were as awful as you believe, you'd all already be dead or imprisoned in concentration camps. So eff u, kiss my ass and bugger off you ignorant twit.

Marcus Bressler said...

The social and news media I follow is FILLED with lefties outraged about everything, including the military aspect of this celebration and saying that America should not be celebrated because racism, sexism and Trump (among other reasons).

One of my FB high school followers objected to the tanks in DC, stating that they would ruin the roads. When I pointed out the modifications that can be made (temporarily) to the threads with inserts so that no damage will be done to good roads, I asked if that was enough for her to support the tanks in the parade.

Crickets

THEOLDMAN

Happy Independence Day!

Howard said...

Trump's cucks needs this because impotence is a disease and militaristic political displays are the salve.

Liberal insensitivity for you people nose no boundaries

Bob Boyd said...

The point is to controversialize absolutely everything.

AllenS said...

Muriel Bowser is an idiot if she thinks "nonresidents pouring into her city" is something new on the 4th of July. We really need to start moving government out of that city and into this vast country of ours (not hers).

Susan said...

I love a good parade. I think this will be a great one.
Too bad the haters won't be able to enjoy it because the hate for one person is so strong they can't even let it go for one day. Have a happy and safe 4th everyone!

Michael McNeil said...

Oh, dear! We're being insensitive to liberals by having a 4th of July parade in Washington, D.C. Oh, the horror!

TJM said...

left-wing loons being left-wing loons. If Obozo was washing his balls, the networks would give it wall to wall coverage

Bruce Hayden said...

There is an adage that for the left, history starts yesterday, or something like that. This country had martial displays on the 4th of July for most of the >150 years since the end of the Civil War.

tim maguire said...

Rico said...
I'm a Republican, but not a huge supporter of the president. I think some of the support/opposition to this is situational and if the shoe were on the other foot...


If the shoe were on the other foot, you'd hardly be aware of it because nobody on either side would be bothered by it, let alone trying to make a controversy out of it.

Otto said...

Hey stupid , that military might won you two world wars and a cold war. Believe me if we don't have the best military in the world we will be eaten alive by the China or Russia.
The liberals are destined to march to the suicide of the west.

Big Mike said...

I don’t know, Rico. I spent eight years celebrating America on the Fourth of July while regarding Barack Obama, then the President of the United States, with a degree of contempt you probably don’t have enough working neurons inside your brain case to contemplate. But America was here before Barack Obama, it was still here after he left office. A mature and intelligent person separates not only the country from the man, but the Office of the President from the man.

That said, Donald Trump is the best president we’ve had since Ronald Reagan.

Roy Lofquist said...

Ms. Althouse, and most of the chattering class, give ear to the WAPO and NYT. I listen to the people in the markets and shops. What I hear brings to mind what was supposedly said by Isoroku Yamamoto":

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

Kevin said...

Trump opponents are doing pretty well not falling into the trap of disparaging the military.

They’re counting on them to disarm the population once the order is given.

Many who had no use for the military now see a means for their end.

n.n said...

Witch hunts, warlock trials, and a progressive controversy have made it all about the president, and now the military, who measured by their opponents, are men and women incapable of self-moderating, responsible behavior. Let's imagine if Americans had kneeled...

wildswan said...

Banning Trump's show has generated free publicity and guaranteed that it will be watched today and tomorrow also since it can't be watched by those spending time with Dem relatives. Left to himself Trump would celebrate and unite America today. But the left hates America so the day will include not only Trump's show but a countershow of symbolic tanks from the mainstream media rolling down the information highway plastered with Hate America First, Oberlin Uber Alles, Antifa: The Beat Goes On and other similar slogans. I mean TV anchors spewing fake news and hoping for something bad to happen to Americans. Such are the times. But at least the left hates America. If they loved it that would mean we had lost. But, no, they still hate us. "And the rockets red glare/ The bombs bursting in air/Gave proof through the night/That our flag was still there."

Kevin said...

I think some of the support/opposition to this is situational and if the shoe were on the other foot...

We had the opposition to this situation.

It was Obama with styrofoam columns taking about stopping the rise of the oceans.

Rico said...

I dunno, Big Mike, I'd like to think I'm a pretty smart guy, at least enough to know that lukewarm support for the current president doesn't equate to any kind of affection for our last president.

At any rate, not wanting an imperial presidency is a pretty standard conservative position, I would think.

Meh, being retired military I'm thinking most of the troops participating in the festivities would rather be home having a beer and some burgers and hot dogs, especially if they have to deal with protesters.

Drago said...

Jeff Brokaw: "Trump sure is good at taking a strong stand on issues that cause the anti-American tendencies of the Progressive Left to surface."

Trump sure is good at taking a strong stand on issues that cause the anti-American and pro-globalist at the expense of America tendencies of the Progressive Left and LLR's to surface.

FIFY

Earnest Prole said...

Hmmmm. On the one hand, ceremonies that feature military hardware seem to communicate insecurity and overcompensation (France, for example, or the former Soviet Union). On the other hand, anything that makes Trump’s dopey enemies’ heads explode must be considered at least somewhat favorably.

narciso said...

So the post gulf war and pre Vietnam inaugurals of Kennedy and Eisenhower were an imperial presidency, help me out here rico.

Leland said...

"The fireworks are the "bombs bursting in air" of the National Anthem."

The sentence may be true for many. However, the actual "bombs bursting in air" of the National Anthem were the British bombs over Fort McHenry. Like Veteran's Day and Memorial Day; the poem recognizes the courage and sacrifice while persevering. The flag was still there despite the bombs bursting in air. There's a lesson for Trump opponents to learn.

narciso said...

Congreves rockets if memory serves, of course the anthem has been 'contriversialized' by some stanzas and some of the authors sympathies

AllenS said...

Rico said...
Meh, being retired military I'm thinking most of the troops participating in the festivities would rather be home having a beer and some burgers and hot dogs, especially if they have to deal with protesters.

Not that it matters, Rico, but were you a fucking leg? Back in 1966-67 I was with the 82nd Abn Div, and we loved to parade. None of us below the rank of Platoon Sargent lived off base. We simply didn't have the money, but we did have that esprit de corps, and we spit shined our boots, and made sure all of us looked strike.

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

The mayor said
The 4th is all about
bbq and tofu


He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat their bbq and tofu.

iowan2 said...

Trump has a genius for forcing the left to defend or demean the weirdest stuff. The left was forced to defend MS 13. Now they are damming the 4th of July.

The left does not like the dominance of the United States. As Rush had explained, Post WWII protocol is for the United States to defer to all foreign interests. Bend over and take it because of our Strength. President Trump has come into office and declared 70+ year old philosophies are gone. America will partner with willing nations of the world for mutual benefit. The days of rebuilding WWII destruction is over. Apologizing for the industry of our free and prosperous citizens, is over. True mutually advantageous trade and security agreements will be negotiated.
The United States is no longer the worlds police and piggy bank.

Come celebrate the greatness of the people, that are the UNITED STATES

Otto said...

@ AllenS

Sincerest thanks you for your service to our country.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

We should have been more restrained with our military during the Civil War. Look at what we won, and ask if it was worth it.

Rico said...

AllenS - I was (am) a "fucking" Marine, 1982-2003 (not that it matters, as you say). I don't want to get a "well, in MY day" conversation with you, because I do enough of that with the current military and I realize it's really pointless. Truth be told, I liked to march in parades, too, especially in public, but I know a lot of guys didn't and I also realize that what could be a cool trip to DC could also turn into an annoying dog and pony where it's all work and no play.

People on this board seem to want to pigeonhole me into some bleeding heart, flag-burning, hippie commie pinko when really all I'm saying we have an Independence Day tradition on the Mall that is pretty cool and there shouldn't be anything to distract from it. I also think that many of those on the left that are decrying it would be thinking it was the greatest thing since sliced bread if Obama or Clinton did it, while many on the right would say they were trying to use the military to score points.

Anyway, thank you for your service and Happy Independence Day.

Drago said...

Rico: "People on this board seem to want to pigeonhole me into some bleeding heart, flag-burning, hippie commie pinko..."

Nonsense.

You might very well be a commie-burning, bleeding-flag, pinko-hearted hippie.

BTW, thank you for your service and I can assure you, were I in charge of a detachment slated to march in the parade, I would make it my mission to ensure my personnel had an absolute blast.

Otto said...

" Precautions are always blamed.When successful, they are said to be unnecessary"

Michael K said...

I'd like to think I'm a pretty smart guy, at least enough to know that lukewarm support for the current president doesn't equate to any kind of affection for our last president.

I guess you don't see any of those rallies or the polls that show 89% of Republicans support him.

I tend to agree that the military members would rather b e home with their families.

So would my son who is a firefighter (used to be called "Fireman " but times change.) and is working today and this weekend.

I spent a lot of Christmases in the operating room. It goers with the job, pal.

DavidD said...

Saying we celebrate the Fourth of July is like saying we celebrate the Twenty-Fifth of December or the First of January.

We celebrate Independence Day. And it is military might that won us our independence.

Oh, and the Declaration did not start the war. We’d been at war for over fourteen months when the Continental Congress decided to declare our independence; it took another five years to defeat the British.

iowan2 said...

So would my son who is a firefighter (used to be called "Fireman " but times change.) and is working today and this weekend.

I spent a lot of Christmases in the operating room. It goers with the job, pal.


I have a buddy that is working today...his boss told him it goes with the job. He builds bridges... for the government.

Darkisland said...

Blogger iowan2 said...

Come celebrate the greatness of the people, that are the UNITED STATES

FIFY

John Henry

JAORE said...

there's so much focus on the presidency ..Did you ever wonder why that is?

Oh I know every D candidate is saying Trump is making this ALL about him...

I don't.

What I DO think is:

Because the left has a 24/7 microscope and microphone focused on him, never failing to gin up controversy.

YMMV.

GatorNavy said...

Yah hey, Rico. I gots room for Allen S in the back of my cracker box to give him IV love when his dirt eating Army ass falls out on the gunny’s grinder.

Matt Sablan said...

"At any rate, not wanting an imperial presidency is a pretty standard conservative position, I would think"

-- Then you should be glad Trump won, as the backlash against him has helped check the executive powers -- even on things that he shouldn't have been, like his ability to fire Comey. Trump's election has been the best way to slow the advance of the imperial presidency we witnessed under Obama where his administration spied on journalists and Congress without any consequences.

Matt Sablan said...

(Like, I'm, at best, a tepid Trump supporter, but him winning was the best way to check the Executive branch because Democrats in Congress were suddenly willing to join with Republicans in holding the Executive branch responsible for things. Now, I had expected Bush-levels of push back and the like to hobble the Executive Branch, but I figured that would just be the natural political pendulum swinging compared to the free hand Congress gave Obama. I was not expecting what we did get, which is a Congress that literally had members considering impeaching Trump for firing a guy who admitted to lying to his boss and stealing classified documents from his work to give to the press.)

Jim at said...

I'd like a lot less emphasis on the president, thank you very much.

Good thing it's not up to you, huh.
Thank you very much.

Jim at said...

I think some of the support/opposition to this is situational and if the shoe were on the other foot...

And I wouldn't have one, single problem if Obama did something like this. Shocked, to be sure, but not a problem.

But we never had to worry about that, did we?

JAORE said...

1776: E Pluribus Unum

2019: What's in it for me.

buwaya said...

The presidency will immediately revert to its imperial state the moment its taken by a democrat, because he or she will be driving a chariot with willing horses.

Nothing has changed. And it will not change, unless your entire leadership caste is purged.

Rico said...

Narciso,

Ugh - well, the Post-Gulf War parade was after a war and the inaugural parades were marking the peaceful transfer of power in a democratic republic. Plus, they were the only game in town.

My feelings come closest to the views expressed here: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/its-not-about-the-tanks/.

Again, for those that don't get it: I am quite sure that if Obama had done this, the Democrats and the press (but I repeat myself) would be proclaiming this as a great thing. On the other hand, the right would be proclaiming it a travesty. The past several years' experience almost make this undeniable. And, no, I don't see myself as above it all, as I would feel less inclined to defend it to my liberal friends and family as I do now if it were a Democratic president.

Rico said...

"Then you should be glad Trump won, as the backlash against him has helped check the executive powers -- even on things that he shouldn't have been, like his ability to fire Comey. Trump's election has been the best way to slow the advance of the imperial presidency we witnessed under Obama where his administration spied on journalists and Congress without any consequences."

And I was, actually, although I'm a little disappointed that Republicans haven't pushed back on some of his initiatives as they should. I was also glad because I knew he would get a ton of scrutiny, whereas Clinton would have gotten very little, certainly not from the Democrats and none from the MSM.

I also believe that the Left hasn't learned any lessons from their hatred of Trump and will be glad to have the power and expand it when they get it back from, literally, Hitler. (That was a joke - Trump is no way Hitler, and to compare him to Hitler is historically illiterate and an insult to Hitler's victims)

Rico said...

"Good thing it's not up to you, huh."

Remember that the next time a Democrat wins.

Fen said...

Remember that the next time a Democrat wins.

Not going to happen. Democrats refused to accept the results of this election, we are going to return the favor in spades.

Probably shoot the top three Dem candidates before they get SS protection. Then rinse and repeat.

Remember, you guys asked for this. Should have reigned in your crazy.

Fen said...

I was (am) a "fucking" Marine, 1982-2003 (not that it matters, as you say).

What unit, what duty station, what TO weapon? I was in 3RD LAR during those times, and I've always found that lefties pretend to be Marines. With very few exceptions. So you can forgive my skepticism.

Where you in Restore Hope? Because we should be able to discuss ancedotes that only people who were there would know. Or CAX? I was the OPFOR, and it's a rare Marine that avoids CAX for 11 years...

Big Mike said...

@Rico, sorry to be slow about getting back to you. Your initial post came across to me as pretty sophomoric -- and on second reading it's still pretty sophomoric.

I don't regard Donald Trump as an imperial president at all, particularly when contrasted with his predecessor blithely ignoring the fine print on the War Powers Act when it came to Libya. I think you spend too much time regurgitating stuff you read in newspapers or online or see on TV. He went against his advisors, notably General Mattis, in pulling our troops out of Syria, as was his right as CinC, but in the end he turned out to be right and General Mattis -- possibly for the first time in his life -- was wrong.

gadfly said...

Duh - we have here just another Trump political rally! Pushing aside what was always the greatest fireworks display in the world on the National Mall which celebrated our beginnings as a nation to be ignominiously replaced by Donald's egotistical vision of the coup d'etat finale for the Trump re-election.

Trump believes: "My dog's bigger - even though my hands are smaller - than yours!" But he doesn't trust that just anyone can be permitted to sit in his audience (only donating Republicans get tickets) when he unleashes his standard stream-of-consciousness monologue complete with random injections of unjoined, unrelated rants.

Birkel said...

Rico managed to get out of the Marines during stop-loss?
Ok.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

LOLOL

LLR Chuck, having beclowned himself beyond recognition, abandons his lefty/Moby post only to be replaced by the Poor Man's LLR Chuck-Gadfly!

And the results are precisely what you would expect.

Trump has made many things Great Again, unfortunately there is no force on earth that can make a gadfly posting even moderately tolerable, much less Great!

gadfly said...

@Birkel said...
Rico managed to get out of the Marines during stop-loss? Ok.

Stop-loss is the extension of military personnel time on active duty beyond the normal separation date. Those who join the military agree to this provision under paragraph 9c of the enlistment contract:

In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless my enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States.

Stop-loss was imposed for a brief period following the 9/11 attacks, and then again in 2002 and 2003 as the military prepared for the Iraq Invasion. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on March 19, 2003 and lasted just 21 days of combat. This early stage of the war formally ended on May 1, 2003 when President Bush declared the "End of major combat operations",

narciso said...

my brother has been with the 101st, he's been everywhere from training in Venezuela, pre chavez to Afghanistan, before the hot war began in earnest in Indochina, of course there was a hot war, so you were a lt. col, when you retired,

Earnest Prole said...

And it will not change, unless your entire leadership caste is purged.

Happy Mao Zedong Day, everyone!

narciso said...


https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/03/robert-davi-hard-actor-trump-military-parade/

hstad said...


Blogger Roy Lofquist said...Ms. Althouse, and most of the chattering class, give ear to the WAPO and NYT. I listen to the people in the markets and shops. What I hear brings to mind what was supposedly said by Isoroku Yamamoto":

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."7/4/19, 8:47 AM

I agree with you 100%. To much regurgitating the Elite Media "bias" which has nothing to say about the people who have build this nation in to the Best, Biggest, and most welcoming (even during Trump's tenure) in the World. My oh my, how people are overwhelming countries with immigrants trying to get to Mexico, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. - LOL.

AA and her Elites are fond of quoting garbage from the likes of the NYT and WaPo, because they are lost in their own bubbles.

Happy 4th of July to the USA and all my friends on the Left and Right!

Jim at said...

Remember that the next time a Democrat wins.

Again, if a Democrat President decides to have a huge Independence Day parade in DC like Trump, I wouldn't have one problem with it.

But that goes against everything they stand - or kneel - for. Therefore, it ain't gonna happen.

Big Mike said...

Althouse began this thread by writing the following in her post: "Trump opponents are doing pretty well not falling into the trap of disparaging the military."

Oh good Lord, they've manifestly done much worse -- now the American flag is regarded by lefties as a symbol of hate and oppression. They avoided one "trap," Althouse, only to construct and jump into another.

pchuck1966 said...

Oh these people who object just need to go f#ck themselves. It is all just silly and they sure did not object between 2009 and 2017.

Amadeus 48 said...
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gerry said...
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gerry said...

Muriel Bowser.

What a dog.